Welcome dear guests,

It’s a pleasure to have you here today to discuss
tourism relations between Türkiye and China while enjoying Turkish tea and
delights.

You are indeed those who will contribute to a very
important aspect of bilateral relations. Tourism is the key to enhance
people-to-people exchanges which set the basis for healthy and sustainable
political and economic relations between countries.

However, it is also important to provide quality
tourism for our friends.

This is why I want to highlight today Türkiye’s
Sustainable Tourism Program, launched in 2022.

This program, ensures to maximize social and economic
benefits for local communities, enhances cultural heritage, protects
biodiversity, ecosystems and landscapes, reduces pollution and conserves
resources.

The independent organization called Global Sustainable
Tourism Council (GSTC) was established to set the criteria and create a
globally shares understanding of sustainable tourism.

This year, the city of Antalya, which is the “tourism
heaven” of Türkiye, hosted the GSTC Conference in May, with the participation
of more than 300 participants. Aside from the discussions and events held
within the margins of the conference, the guests had a chance to see in person
how Türkiye puts to practice sustainable tourism.

Türkiye sets an example as being the first country in
the World to sign an agreement with GSTC for a national sustainability program
at the governmental level.

Dear guests,

Allow me to point out some characteristics of Turkish
tourism.

Today, with more than 50 million tourists per year, Türkiye
ranks 3rd in the World. Antalya, ranks number one.

The number of blue flag beaches has increased to 531.

There are 19 heritage sites registered in the UNESCO
World Heritage List. Göbeklitepe, the recently discovered ancient site, dating
back 10 thousand years is also in this list.

Türkiye also has vast opportunities for sports
activities, such as cycling, mountain biking, hiking, paragliding, skiing and
many more.

Within Türkiye’s National Sustainable Tourism Program,
all of the tourism facilities will be Sustainable Tourism certified by 2030.

The facilities that have been entitled with
certificates are announced and listed in the Culture and Tourism Ministry’s
website, as well as Türkiye’s official tourism platform GoTürkiye.com. This
website also serves in Chinese language since 2021.

Today, especially with the lifting of restriction due
the pandemic, there is no reason not to receive record high number of Chinese
tourists to Türkiye.

Turkish Airlines and several Chinese airways have
already began frequent direct flights from many cities in China, including,
Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. As of July, Turkish Airline will start flying
every day from Beijing to İstanbul.

We trust your hard work and engagement in promoting
Türkiye to Chinese tourist so that we can break new records.

I know that some of you will be travelling to Türkiye
tomorrow. I kindly ask you to pay more attention to the sustainable tourism
aspects of the hotels and other places during your stay there. And on your
return, promote those beautiful sites of Türkiye, while highlighting their
sustainable and environmental nature.

I wish those traveling tomorrow a joyful stay and all
those here to enjoy Turkish tea and delights.

Thank you